Please use the comments section to begin topics of discussion — topics not already under discussion in other threads. In particular, I'm putting the discord in Minnesota off limits. Go to this post or this one to talk about that. The overnight open thread is not a place for anger and repetition. Bring some light.AND: I put up an even newer post on the immigration strife. I'll update the time of this post so it can continue to sit on top of the day's travails.
Posts
117 comments:
"And the sun is gonna shine
Every winter was a war, she said
I want to get what's mine"
- Sade "Jezebel"
Reading over the weekend about "The Red Marine Corps General". This is what Evans Carlson was called in an anti-communist book from the early 50s.
Seems he was the hero of the movie "Gung-ho" a Hollwyood war movie from 1943, which detailed the Marine 2nd Raider Battalions expoits in the "Makin Raid" of Aug 1942, and the "Long patrol" on Guadacanal in Nov-Dec 1942.
A fascinating man, who fell under the commie spell in the 30s and 40s, and was rewarded for it. The Commies were grooming him for the Senate in 46, when he had a heart attack and died a year later.
OK. Here is some of my "light" to bring. My favorite historians at "The Rest is History" channel, with today's "other than Minnesota news", is all about the rise and fall of of the Shah of Iran, the rise of the Ayatollah, and the disasters of Jimmy Carter's presidency. I find it highly relevant, since Iran is the story nobody seems to want to talk about now, because of ICE, but is still terribly important in today's geopolitical world. The first 3 episodes are free and are on YouTube. I find these podcasts very informative and entertaining, and well worth your time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8OW0aK-oaA
It got down to 16° last night and I went into the kitchen this morning to draw some water for tea and, at that moment, remembered that I forgot to drip the faucet. No issues, but it’s getting down to 11° tonight and I’ve set a reminder not to tempt fate. lol
Andrew Hickey has been falling behind schedule. Can he live long enough to write about 500 songs? He just dropped a special episode about Cat Stevens. It made me say Wow, Cat wasn’t just a brainless hippy. He was also a jerk, but he did make lots of music before he was 30 years old.
I was able to find two Carlson biography books published in the 21st century. Both are Pro-Carlson and do everything they can to minimize Carlson's (and everyone elses) communist leanings. "Hey that Mao was just an Agraian Reformer". But that's to be expected in today's far-left world of publishing and academia.
Probably the most interesting revelation in the biographies is that carlson wanted to surrender to the Japanese during the Makin raid. Something that was quickly covered up the Marine Corps. Here's a review of one of the books:
https://www.benning.army.mil/Infantry/Magazine/issues/2020/Summer/pdf/14_Bk2_txt.pdf
which tack did they take, as 'fall of heaven' has noted, the fall of the shah was not inevitable, until 1978
"The rise and fall of of the Shah of Iran, the rise of the Ayatollah, and the disasters of Jimmy Carter's presidency. "
From what I've read the shah was a complete disaster, and dummy who didn't know what was good for Iran and let the whole thing be takeover by Extremists. IOW, a modern day Czar Nicholas. The chances of getting a good leader out of a heriditary monarchy are about the same as winning the lottery.
How cold was it this morning? This looks lik one of those days you wouldn’t have gone out in….
of course that would have required a shah in command of his faculties, which the cancer diagnosis, did not help,
he didn't kill enough commies and sympathizers like bani sadr who was still whining about mossadecq, one of the factions against him the people's mojahadeen, were the lefties mentioned above, they found the situation was poor when the ayatollah came to power,
a similar thing happened with mubarak and obama, who bought the silly Arab Spring hype, he was forced out because of those smart liberals, and surprise an islamist like morsi took power,
I will note without violating Althouse's ICE ban on this topic, that she posted another news item below this post about it.
For the non politics: I wish some of that snow would come west. While the east half of the US is experiencing winter, we could REALLY use a lot of snow in the Rockies.
bani sadr got the ear of pierre salenger and rouleau and sold them the story of the evil shah,
"Andrew Hickey has been falling behind schedule. Can he live long enough to write about 500 songs? He just dropped a special episode about Cat Stevens. It made me say Wow, Cat wasn’t just a brainless hippy. He was also a jerk, but he did make lots of music before he was 30 years old."
Ha ha. I'm in the middle of listening to that. I was just texting Meade: "he wasn’t very smart but he was extremely good looking. you can get in a lot of trouble that way... I had a picture of him on my wall before any of his songs had been released in the U.S. I just read about him as someone popular in England… and loved the photograph"
Meade was telling me that when he was 16 he saw Cat Stevens live at the Kennedy Center. It was about 1970, and "He was great."
"The rise and fall of of the Shah of Iran, the rise of the Ayatollah, and the disasters of Jimmy Carter's presidency. "
The rise and fall of Cat Stevens.
The Donald J. Trump Kennedy Center.
I was 16 when I first heard Mona Bone Jakon; 17 when I saw him perform at DJTJFK Center. He was good; his guitarist made him great.
Was Star Trek always woke? Well, in his roast, William Shatner said it was, "We even let the Asian guy drive!" His words, not mine.
Not sure Star Trek was this woke, though.
I think the most telling detail, that their agenda was to destroy Star Trek as it was, was when they had a musical trash can that played the original Star Trek theme whenever you threw something away.
I don't think of trek after 2005 as Canon, the kurtzman film featured kirk and spock as too emo, lets not even bring up discovery or picard, seasons 1 and 2,
Roddenberry as a stated earlier, is screaming in the ether,
G’day from the other side of the world! Spent yesterday celebrating Australia Day with the Aussies in Sydney. Will be in Melbourne tomorrow - today it is well over 100F there, but tomorrow it will be back into the 70-80sF. On to Tasmania and New Zealand from there.
he was a new frontier liberal in the office of william parker, a fairly conservative fellow, although he borrowed spock's analytical nature from him
Carly Simon's "Anticipation" is said to have been written about her upcoming date with Cat Stevens. Those were the good old days.
I had a request to learn a Cat Stephen’s song last week: ‘First Cut is the Deepest’. And it’s also when I learned it was his song. Rod Stewart recorded it in Muscle Shoals, maybe in the late 70’s or early 80’s, and I thought it was his…
Steven’s. Whoopsie!
"The overnight open thread is not a place for anger and repetition. Bring some light."
Thank you. As usual, your timing is perfect. The ratio of troll-screech copy-pasta to the interesting observations and insights of Althouse regulars has be trending in the wrong direction recently.
Here, just outside of Boston, it is looking like it might a repeat of 2015, when every weekend from Jan 23 to the end of February we got a foot of snow or more. We had16 inches on the ground this morning, but it didn't fully stop all day, and by the time the snow ends I think we'll have a good 20" (plus some drifts that were waist-deep).
My dogs absolutely love snow until it gets higher than their heads, and they are corgis, so this storm got the side-eye of disapproval, and the chickens are just disgusted.
If I had to lay money down, and it were ever possible to know the truth, my bet would be that the ChiComs caught one of their military guys taking bribes from the US, and are rolling up the network, and of course, we frame it as a crackdown on homegrown dissent on the "brave Chinese patriots" who were working with us.
Feel free to disagree, but it fits with our M.O.
Beasts of English: I think Sheryl Crow's cover of "First Cut is the Deepest" is the only one that does the song justice. It is musically very simple but a nice piece of songwriting all the same. Too bad Cat Stevens went bonkers.
they have a Milley Vannili in their ranks, perish the thought,
probably one or two of the princelings were behind this revolt,
the fact that the top staff were involved is concerning,
Will be in Melbourne tomorrow ...
Catching any of the Australian Open by chance?
’I think Sheryl Crow's cover of "First Cut is the Deepest" is the only one that does the song justice.’
That’s the version that drove her request, and when I was searching for the lyrics I saw who wrote it. I do like Crow’s version, and she’s great in concert, too. I’ve seen her twice: once opening for the Stones and once at a small venue.
Cat Stevens. Oh, God. It brings back memories. Bad memories. Of a younger brother forced to listen to his elder sisters records. Add Carley Simon and Jim croce. Ugh. "Hello operator..." still makes me want to tear my ears off.
Typical of chicks. The one good song croce did "Bad leroy brown" "bored her".
Did giving a lone singer born 1940-1950 a guitar and a microphone ever end well?
“ How cold was it this morning? This looks lik one of those days you wouldn’t have gone out in….”
Ir was -7 with a “feels like” temperature of -16.
We got acclimated!
X-Country skied (skate) from Johnson Cabin @ 00 north to Fire Tower Cabin and back. Beautiful day. We'll ski the TH to Fire Tower Cabin and back tomorrow. Embrace the season. 🌞
Oh I forgot, Althouse wanted light. Well, I'll bring the light of white hot anger and disgust at wimpy guitar players warbling their tunes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V_hCqO6UQs
Stewart’s cover was recorded in ‘76, and I should have remembered that since my brother, while in college, got a call to do three bass tracks on that album. None survived the final mix, although there’s no shame in that as his efforts were up against Duck Dunn, David Hood, and Leland Sklar; all four-string legends.
Good one, RC!!
Back to Monday nights without football. 🏈
In hindsight, should the Vikings have re-signed Sam Darnold? I don’t think the Vikings would have won more than one more game with him. McCarthy is young and less expensive.
For those keep score its:
Donald Trump - 2
Barack Obama - 56
Grok:
A 2016 report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Detention Watch Network (DWN), and National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) documented 56 deaths in ICE custody during the Obama administration, including six suicides and at least one death following a suicide attempt.
This is an interesting take by an old guy about the housing market and what our betters want our lives to look like. (I always speed these up)
Where Do They Want Us To Go
https://youtu.be/GNjEZ9Gqdss?si=OSkQEzVO_rSCSdwq
The winter storm warning for the snow apocalypse is over, and a new winter storm warning is in effect for tonight. My son and I finished clearing the driveway off and we went in and made dinner. Relaxed a bit, then went out to get a new mailbox since the box was knocked off a 2nd time this year by the plow. Got as far as the driveway. There was a fresh 2" on the driveway and the newly unplowed street... Maybe tomorrow. Supposed to get 6-8" tonight.
It's CNY, something we live with from time to time. Losing the mailbox is irritating. It's mounted where the USPS says it should be. The ones not knocked down are back from the road further then those instructions allow...
Thanks for that Eva.
A reminder I heard today - Big Government/ Democrat regulatory state costs Americans 10 trillion dollars...
I think the Trump administration should make it easier to file suits under the False Claims Act. This is a Civil War era bill that allows citizens with knowledge of frauds on the Federal government to start a suit on behalf of the government and keep 15 to 30% of the amount recovered.
In colorado - controlled by Democrats - the dems have built creative TABOR (Tax Payer Bill of Rights) work arounds that hidden in secret. For instance, in order to build TABOR work-arounds - the dems set up companies that are 10% owned by the state of Colorado - then they use these "companies" to place and stack fees on Colorado tax payers. ooo because the rule of law here states that the government must ask our permission prior to a new tax. But their work around is a FEE.
his is an interesting take by an old guy about the housing market
I'm an old guy. I can explain the housing market fairly easily (I think).
Virtually every state in the union taxes the ownership of property. It's a punishment. If you purchase something, the government starts punishing you by yearly taxes.
The amount of tax you pay is based on the value of the thing you own.
One way for the government to raise taxes is to vote on a tax increase. The downside of doing that is those people get run out of town on a fucking rail. They get voted out. Entire cities have been unincorporated.
And so the key to keeping your job as a government official is to figure out ways to NOT VOTE ON TAX INCREASES but yet STILL GET a tax increase.
Voila ... property values. Who sets those? Why government does. Why? To get more taxes without having a vote.
House prices will ALWAYS go up because that's the only way the government can increase taxes without a vote.
Eliminate property taxes and house prices will dramatically fall and the housing crisis will be over with.
Only young people can do that. Old people BENEFIT from high house prices because we've paid off our houses and in retirement, we'll sell them at inflated values and live off that money until we die.
In a nutshell, young people have to REVOLT. And they won't.
It was great while it lasted.
Andrew Hickey's episodes are getting longer and longer, so even if he lives to be 500 he won't be able to finish his series about 500 rock and roll songs because each episode will soon take 10 years to make.
I did the math.
YouTube: "You can't fool yourself, the way you can fool yourself about others"
From my new favorite channel : "You Are The Creator Of Your Reality (Pygmalion Effect)"
Cat Stevens.
I liked him a lot. My excuse? I was a dopey teenager that's why. So shut up about it! Just shut up! I hate you all! You're old and you can't understand what its like to be a teenager! You are so gross!
MadTownGuy said...
Carly Simon's "Anticipation" is said to have been written about her upcoming date with Cat Stevens. Those were the good old days.
1/26/26, 7:09 PM
That may be, but it will always mean ketchup to me.
Eliminate property taxes and house prices will rise. People buy based on what they can afford to pay monthly. Build more houses and prices will drop. Good lord, does this really need to be explained?
"A judge has told jurors to treat Barron Trump's account of his friend's alleged attack in London with 'caution', as it may be 'biased'.
US President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron, 19, rang UK police after allegedly seeing his friend on a video call being attacked by Matvei Rumiantsev in London on January 18 last year, a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
The court heard the president’s son told a City of London Police operator: 'I just got a call from a girl… she’s getting beat up.'"
Why do they even a jury? Let the all discerning judge decide everything.
In hindsight, should the Vikings have re-signed Sam Darnold? I don’t think the Vikings would have won more than one more game with him. McCarthy is young and less expensive.
McCarthy needs his chance to carry the load. So either they give him snaps and bench Darnold or they use Darnold and let JJ sit idle. I think it waws the right choice to let JJ play.
Hearing Tea for the Tillerman, as a 12 year old, was definitely a revelation.
LVB, that was a very good video, thanks.
IOPEPC Registration is a crucial step for exporters looking to grow their business internationally.
The process helps ensure compliance with trade regulations and builds credibility in global markets.
Timely registration can open doors to new export opportunities and government benefits.
It’s great to see more awareness around IOPEPC and its importance for the spice export industry.
Thanks for sharing this helpful information!
Register here - https://www.agileregulatory.com/service/iopepc-certificate-registration-for-exports
@ Whiskeybum...one of my favorite midwinter treats: up as normal at 4:15. 9 degrees outside. Pour a hot cup of coffee, check the overnight markets, then watch the quarters or semis live in their night session in Melbourne. Alcaraz v De Minaur right now.
Installed a propane furnace as backup for my naturally produced gas. The propane supplier installed a sensor/ transmitter (???) on the tank that sends a wireless signal to the home office when the propane level falls to 20%. They then refill the tank.
By logging into my account, I can also check the remaining gas level on my cell phone. Nice feature.
You are welcome.
"IOPEPC Registration is a crucial step for exporters"
Isn't that the med for chronic heartburn? I use the generic version. CC, JSM
I had a vivid dream last night that while I was scrolling the comments here the L, first letter L-em started to expand, to fill my phone screen, just so, I turned the phone bottom up towards my face, fearing what was happening, but not panicking, I did so slowly and as it came into view the the power aperture started growing, just as the L had been growing and I started to see through the opening as though it was a window out into a reality that looked more real than the one I was in. As I started to approach like a ship out of a bigger ship I realised I was indeed dreaming and none of this was real.
Lem, that sounds 2001-inspired. Like the phone is the Tycho Monolith. CC, JSM
I did a search asking are saturated fats bad for your health. The AI derived answer was yes saturated fats are bad for your health and gave a long discourse about LDL and cardiac health, cancer risk, etc. I then did a search asking are saturated fats bad for your health please cite references. The answer was no based on multiple meta-analyses of clinical studies. In essence the studies found no significant change in mortality for diets that include saturated fats.
My hunch is that given a general question without citations to proof the AI looks at the vast amount of dogma published over the past 50 years most of it just repeating the mantra fats are bad. But when asked to provide citations AI focuses on a subset of information that turns out to be contradictory to dogma.
This raises concerns about AI that the phrasing of search queries may yield misleading or false data.
I had already noticed that AI often uses internet forums as a source of info. Having read many different forums this is a concern because forums are full of people posting completely inaccurate information.
I’ve read that AI also relies heavily on patent databases. As a patent practitioner this is a concern. Patent applications are written in a way to provide very broad support for your claimed invention. This broad support isn’t always a reflection of reality. AI could give incorrect info based on assuming the broad support is correct.
https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00143743/1922908/sa/17
For the Republican Party of Texas, federal regulators are questioning whether committee officials have properly accounted for $600,000 worth of Employee Retention Credit funds the committee itself received.
So the Texas GOP doesn't fool around, by blaming Somalis for stealing from the Feds, they processed a credit that was due to be paid to Parkersburg for $600K.
Yeah. I thought of Tron. I got Disney when I was buying a ticket to spend Christmas with my father in Tampa. I got it at a discount and I figured I would cancel it after I check what they had available. They own the Tron franchise. But of course it’s just like the rest of the streaming services with a full watchlist that I never get to watch because I’m too busy or I don’t have really enough desire to watch deep down.
Oh baby baby it’s a wild world….
The Cat before the fall:
I arranged a killer opener on this tune back in the 70's.
Remember the Days Of The Old Schoolyard
Good stuff, but then he walked off the plank to follow his dream... Following your dream is severely overrated.
Millions - if not billions - of dollars are going to bad actors.
"But what about $600K????!!!!" - 'Fly
I'll make you a deal, jackass.
Let's all admit fraud is bad.
"Andrew Hickey's episodes are getting longer and longer, so even if he lives to be 500 he won't be able to finish his series about 500 rock and roll songs because each episode will soon take 10 years to make."
Yes, the show is not the original concept anymore. He seems to have come to believe he must write and entire book about the whole life of the artists, but what I liked originally was the idea that you could tell the history of rock and roll by dealing with one SONG at a time. I wanted the focus on artistic ideas and techniques, adhering to the belief that you could go song by song, with the chosen songs receiving a distinct honor. Which songs will be picked?
But somehow we need to learn about every contract the artist signed and (inevitably) got cheated on, every decline into irrelevancy, all the personal relationships. It's just a completely different idea now.
It used to be about how there were various "scenes" and the artist entered it and emerged out of it. It was very much about MUSIC.
I miss that. I feel sorry for artists that got ripped off in business deals, but I get it, and I don't need to study the particular deals of each artist. There could be another podcast on contracts and artists, but I would not listen unless it had something special about BUSINESS and LAW.
I don't need to hear over and over how particular businessmen and lawyers were mean to an artist. I presume they are, but I'm in no position to help the artist. The general idea is enough.
It’s 14° at the moment and I went outside just for the fun or it and it’s invigorating, which is a fancy way of saying stupid cold. lol
“But tell me
Why do teh children play-ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay?”
https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/01/27/us-counter-terrorism-chief-in-iraq-to-support-isis-prisoner-transfer/
I love how we call it "counter terrorism" to move our proxy soldiers to Iran's border.
Do the fish jump out at those temperatures
It's funny that Instapundit rants about how the Iranians hate their own government, and yet millions of pro-government demonstrators, horrified by the violence of the pro-Israeli "protesters," err, I mean, "freedom loving" protesters, poured onto the streets to put an end to those protests.
Yoi cant be this stupid can you
Thats a rhetorical question
"Do the fish jump out at those temperatures"
The fish move slower and slower. In fact, if you are trolling for salmon after ice out, you turn the speed way down, and raise the trolling speed little by little as the weeks pass and the water warms.
Were moving the prisoners to more secure facilities in kurdiatan
"Yoi cant be this stupid can you"
You're right, Israel would never do that, nor would the United States. We keep getting into these wars one after the other just trying to "do what's right" according to our Sunday school teachers morality.
You proved my point
"Were moving the prisoners to more secure facilities in kurdiatan"
Part of the Israeli plan is to break up Iran into regions, not regime change, but to disintigrate the country, and one of these regions will be Kurdish, and there are already stories about how Kurdish "insurgents" are being moved into Iran, in fact Turkey even warned Iran about a group of several hundred being moved into the country to cause trouble.
The reason that you have a hard time believing this stuff is because you think that there are good guys in these wars.
If your analysis has a premise at bottom that our side are the good guys and would never do anything sneaky, well, you are blind to what is really going on.
They are all a mix of sociopaths and psychopaths, on all side, and no moral analysis of what is going on will ever hold water.
Turkey is not happy with the idea of a sovereign Kurdistan.
Another big hit from the 70s:
The self-help book, “I’m Okay, You’re So-So”
Turkey’s not happy? Erdoğan can kiss our giblets.
Turkey supports hamas and islamic state
Eva Marie (8:53 pm), thanks for the video. Interesting guy with an interesting take on the housing problem. What he doesn't address is how the atomization of society and the trend away from having families is partially responsible for or at least exacerbates the lack of housing. Families can offer shelter of last resort, but not if you don't have one.
They killed loads of armenians that chunk uygurs band namd the young turks and the kurds
Sign o’ the Times… LEO put on desk duty for shooting crazed raccoon that was attacking tourists, as they investigate to determine if the shooting was “justified”…
This chinese party hack is malfunctioning
Rockets gets edgy between Marvel Projects
We used the Kurds to demolish the government of Syria and turn it into another Libya, I guess this kind of stuff happens by accident, and it is not the plan for Iran.
Personally, if I were playing Iran's position in a game of Risk, I wouldn't wait until the US Navy is perfectly positioned to start the war that is coming no mater what Iran does outside of complete capitulation, and even that wouldn't be enough. Israel doesn't want that little prince related to the Shah because that would keep Iran intact, and so always a headache.
Fine, that's how power games are played, just spare me the morality of "evil Iranians" and "our side only does good." At least in chess, you don't have to justify taking control of a square by lying to everybody.
The Kurds were our excuse to starve the Syrian people by taking control of their oil and their breadbasket. They are handy people, the Kurds.
Thats exceedingly stupid syria is majority sunni kurds are to the west of the country
Thank you for the rules for this post. It was enjoyable to read the comments. I second the recommendation of "The Rest is History" podcast on the Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis. It's nice to hear the perspective from historians with no ideological bias.
I have a lot of paper work to do today, so I'm going to listen to that podcast about Cat Stevens.
Jaq said...
Turkey is not happy with the idea of a sovereign Kurdistan.
I am always curious why people appeal to lines on a map to justify letting countries kill their people.
The Russian ethnics in Ukraine had the same issue. They were trapped in a country with the maidan because of lines on a map and the maidan with help from European sponsors started killing them.
There is no good reason why the Kurds shouldn’t have their own country.
It would have most of the oil in the north
It is currently 13 deg F. Here in the Fox Valley. Home of Fermi Lab. Soon I'll be shooting trap indoors in my shirt sleeves. No. Not virtually. Real shells with a real shotgun.
This should horrify actual conservatives.
Stung by Trump, America’s Top Trading Partners Shift Gaze to China ~ WSJ
"Some U.S. allies are weighing closer ties to Beijing as they seek alternative markets"
Iman: "LEO put on desk duty for shooting crazed raccoon that was attacking tourists, "
Is that the same place as the bikini-clad social researcher? CC, JSM
Kakistocracy said...
This should horrify actual conservatives.
Stung by Trump, America’s Top Trading Partners Shift Gaze to China ~ WSJ
"Some U.S. allies are weighing closer ties to Beijing as they seek alternative markets"
We are also horrified when we find out that Chinese agents like Carney are allowed to sell their country out to China so they and their corporate donors can use cheap labor in china to make a little more money.
We decided to tax people that who choose to fuck the working class so corporate oligarchs can get a bigger yacht with tariffs.
You are just a globalist tool and those leaders who want to work with China are donor sellouts.
Fee v. tax. The difference is resolution (or, at least, discussion) of grievances before tax money is authorized and portioned out for the various purposes of government such as control of the border. Fees are just collected and distributed withour oversight as happens with the California energy fees which have made the state expensive and unaccountable. And California is also dirty which is just what those fees were supposed to prevent. Anyhow, the fee/tax issue is a golden oldie in our history. I mention it because I think we're about to get a 21st century update.
For extra credit
At the beginning of America, which is buried deep in the England of 1630, there was a King who raised money from fees of various kinds rather than taxes. He believed he had a divine right to rule and wanted to escape from reminders that those he ruled thought otherwise. So he refused to call Parliament in session and ask for money from taxes. For it had become the custom for the Puritans in Parliament to bring up all the grievances felt by the people and to seek redress before they gave any money. This king, Charles I, became so abusive with his fee-collecting that 20,000 English Puritans emigrated to New England in the six years from 1630-1636. Thus began our story. Meanwhile, the Puritans who stayed behind in England cut off Charles' head in 1649 and founded a republic. It didn't work. After some turmoil, the English re-instated a chastened monarchy which allowed grievances to be heard in Parliament before taxes were voted on. But then, beginning in 1763, Parliament tried to do the same thing in America as Charles I had done in 1630. Parliament ignored the colonists' grievances and tried to collect taxes without reference to the colonial assemblies by calling taxes, fees. As everyone, except those under sixty-five knows, Parliament tried slip this arrogant procedure, i.e., ignoring the grievances of those you tax, into American law in 1773 by taxing tea while pretending the tax so closely resembled a customs fee that it really was a fee ... if you tilted your head and squinted your eyes ... it was really ... almost. But the Colonials were not deceived. The tax on tea was intended to pay for the soldiers of the new British Empire and armies are paid for by taxes. It was the thin edge of the wedge, of taxation without representation. Hence the Boston Tea Party. And then the Revolution.
And so, fee v. tax is in our history. Nothing wrong with fees. For a hundred years our government paid for almost everything with customs' fees and taxes were low. Still, we had a Federal Congress and state assemblies, all of which discussed issues before any of them voted taxes. They did not avoid discussion while funding unpopular and unwelcome initiatives by fees. That is our system - on the Federal and state level.
The Kurds have a greater claim to statehood than the "Palestinians," the two state [four state?] solution. The Kurds were represented at Versailles, But Sykes and Picot didn't think so.
“Is that the same place as the bikini-clad social researcher?”
Don’t know Mr. Mosby…
There I was, feeling warm and snug inside the last few days, and looking forward to my first trip in the car since last Thursday and Friday--had to get to the post office, Walgreens, and Kroger.
As I left the front porch I heard a rustling-rushing sound, and thought for a split second that the sun had melted enough ice off the trees to make that noise, but it was too steady.
Turns out that the wind shift from N-ish to W and SW once again froze our electric water heater and popped the feed line, causing water to spray all over the interior of our utilities closet, which is in a breezeway at the SW corner of our house, and not all that well insulated.
I had to find the water key and a spade and dig the 4-5 inch snow accumulation off the streetside water meter before I could even turn it off.
We'll probably be waterless for the next week or so, and then will have to figure out a way to avoid this hassle in the future--this is the second (third?) such incident since we ditched the big old water heater in 2020.
The only good thing is that the water damage will be isolated to that corner of the house, if you can call that a good thing.
The streets are drivable, even though only the main ones show any blacktop at all. There are times when even Memphis drivers aren't reckless morons.
@Narr, they're expensive, but if you have gas, consider a tankless heater, they're awesome and have a feature that keeps them from freezing. Or alternatively, get some heat tracing off Amazon that comes in different lengths, usually drawing about 10 watts per foot. These generally have a thermostat and come on around 35° to apply gentle heat along the pipes they are wrapped around. Or do like I do and pull out a 75 watt incandescent bulb, stick it in a work light, and just pop it in the cabinet until the weather warms up again.
Thanks, Aggie, for the suggestions. I should have said it's a tankless.
We managed to get a plumber here in only a few hours, and he shut off the refrigerator-icemaker line--small and more exposed than the heater feedline-- and put some insulation on it. We have the main water back, but will have to come up with a solution such as you suggest.
As I tell everyone, there's nothing wrong with this old ranchstyle house that a hundred grand won't fix.
Narr
Do you have central heating? Build an insulated box around it and run some ducting out there. Like dryer hose type ducting.
It doesn't have to be hot, just above freezing.
Thankee, thankee Rusty. All options are on the table.
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